Philip j



PJJ. DONO'HUE. GRIPPING ATTACHMENT FOR TIRES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 16, I920.

1,380,137, Patented na 1,1921.

5 p4 w ke.

p ments for Tires, of which the following is a -IIEP SWE i'PiATfEN-T. ,oF FlcE PHI??- m s kb i EW-Wsi t? To all whom it may concern:

. residing atNew York city,.county and State 7 of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in, Gripping Attachfull, clear, and exact description. e

This invention relates to improvements in gripping devices for vehicle wheels, one of the objects being to provide a device which i is applicable toxthe tires of a motor vehicle (more particularly trucks), that will greatly increase the traction thereof especially upon slippery roads or whenlthe roads are H laden with snow, ice or mud.

Myimproved gripping device is intended to take the place of cross chains, which are comparatively short lived. The gripping device, which I have designed, may be quickly applied or removed, isnon-slippable after having been applied and, as compared to chains, will last for a considerable length of time.

I will now proceed to describe my invention in detail, the novel features of which I will point out in the appended claim, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a sectional view of a portion of a wheel having my improvement applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an end view of my improvement looking from the left in Fig. 1, a portion of a tire and telly of a wheel being illustrated;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of my gripping device broken away;

Fig. 4. is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified form of the gripping element of the device; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view thereof.

My improved gripping device is in the nature of a clamp that can be applied to a wheel intermediate the spokes, and as many as desirable can be used, one only being illustrated in the drawing. The device consists of a tread member 8 and a felly member 9 connected at one end by a bolt 10 and at the other by a shackle 11. The bolt 10 passes through the'ends 12 and 13 of the tread member 8 and felly member 9, respectively,.while the shackle 11 is pivotally connected, at its closed end, to the tread memenirrme nrrrncnmrinrron mam.

rammed May 31, "1921.

15mm].,fi ed'fl gm 16;\1920.3i Serial ethan r I r p I 1 ber ash-1T0, pivotallyiconnectthe shackle and .Beitknown that I, PHILIP, J DoNoHuE, a citizen of the United. States of America,

tread membe 8, I provide the free end of said tread member 8 with ahook 14; made by at the opposite'endgthe tread member is flanged as: at l6to provide aseat for the head lZ-of. the bolt .10, which is prevented from turning; by the leg 17 of said member.

1 As can be 86611,:(31'18 tread member is made vfolriinedjinto a channelto lit the tire 19, the

turning the said end over upon itself to form an eye 15 through which the} closed end of the shackle passes. ,As can be seen,

"up a. strip of. metal "of suitable thickness leg) :7?Qai1d leg 20. The leg 20 carries the hook 14,1 extendingifrom. the rail portion 21,

an'dfis preferablydntegral therewith. For

gripping purposes, I provide the rail 21 with a fin 22, said fin being preferably integral with the rail. The telly member 9 consists of a strip of metal of suitable thickness and comprises a rail member 23 having extensions 24 and 25 flanged as at 13 and 26. The bolt 10 passes through flange 13, but flange 26' is straddled by the shackle 11 (see Fig. 2). The bolt 10 carries a nut 27, and, if desirable, a lock washer 28. The free end of extension 26 of rail member 23 is bent downwardly as at 29 to form a lip.

will be placed upon the tire, after which the lip 29 on the telly member 9 will he slipped through the shackle 11 and over plate 30 (see dotted lines Fig. 1). After the said felly member has been applied to the shackle plate and moved upwardly at the end A to cause the bolt 10 to pass through the bolt opening in the end 13 of said felly member, the nut 31 can be applied and screwed home. After the felly member 9 has been applied, nuts 32 of the shackle and nut 31 can be screwed home. The shackle 11 and bolt 10 will be long enough to provide for consider-- able adjustment upon the part of the felly member 9. Hence the device can be applied a preferably positioned at "the inside of the wheel, as the device can be easily wpplied when positioned as stated.

For ordinary use the fin 22 wallgrip the road and increase traction and will outlast a chain. Instead of formimgahefisn 22 integral With the rail 21, I may constructlthe tread portion, as indicated in 6,, witha rail portion 34 having a rabbet groove 35 receive a fin 36 having'amgulair sides 37 and 38. In this form of my invention .one. fin 36 1 can-be removed and another substituted. To

maintain the fin 86in position, I provide a .latch mechanism, indicated by-39, consisting 1 of :a yieldab'le plate 40 carrying a pin '41, to --engage a recess 42 in the bottom'ofthe fin '36. The pin 41 passes through an opening 43in the rail 34; To remove the fin 36,.pIate4O will -be sprung downwardly to withdraw pin 41 fromithe recess 42, after whichfin .36

can be driven out of the rabbet groove 35. Toinsert a fin into said groove, the operation will be reversed, that is to say, the pin 41 will be depressed and afterthe new fin has been driven in, pin 41 will spring into recess 42.

Asthe plate 40 willalways' lie next to the tire, it cannot be prematurely ope m-ted: to draw pin 41- out of recassAQ during the operation of the vehicle.

.ofthe-adv'antages of my device is that the telly member becomes a lever to xilra'vv the tread member against a tire as soon as the lip is caused to engage the [shackle plate and the telly memberiforced upwardly at its free end to be engaged by thebo'lt 10. What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is Ina tire gripping device, a tread member "consisting of a rail to extend transversely of a tire, said rail being provided with a groove extending longitudinally, a fin re- 'm'ova'blyxlocated insaid groove, a releasable 

